Leaker: Apple to Downgrade iPhone 18 in Two Ways

[WarmWinterHat]

Haters gonna hate as always

We have inflation. Especially now with memory

So either they hike prices. Or they nerf something. They chose the latter.

There is a third option, Apple could take just a smidgen less profit.

 

[turbineseaplane]

There is a third option, Apple could take just a smidgen less profit.

Whoa whoa whoa there soldier...

 

[sw1tcher]

We have inflation. Especially now with memory

What inflation? "Grocery prices, energy prices, airfares, mortgage rates, rent and car payments are all coming down. And they’re coming down fast. Inflation has been defeated. Inflation has stopped. Wages are up and prices are down."

Or so I've been told.

 

[onedrunkhorse]

I’ll be pretty surprised if Apple actually does this. Hold back upgrades? Yes. Downgrade from current specs? I have my doubts.

 

[aidler]

So, will the overall performance of the iPhone 18 be worse than the performance of the iPhone 17?

 

[Jakesky123]

Can’t wait to see how they spin this at the keynote….

 

[Green Valkyrie]

who are we pinning this on? tim or ternus?

Biden 😉

 

[Mackan]

Makes no sense to offer a new model that is worse than previous model.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

I’ll be pretty surprised if Apple actually does this. Hold back upgrades? Yes. Downgrade from current specs? I have my doubts.

The standard iPhone 15 had the iPhone 14 Pro's processor, so it's not unheard of.

Biden 😉

Why would Obama do this to us?

 

[leman]

Some of this information is slightly confusing. I assume they are talking about dropping one GPU core as in manufacturing a smaller chip, and not disabling a core? Depending on the changes in the upcoming GPU cores, 5->4 cores could still end up a net performance positive (or at least performance parity). Frankly, I'm not worried about this aspect, these mobile GPUs are massively overpowered as is.

Inferior display is more concerning, however.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Makes no sense to offer a new model that is worse than previous model.

It doesn't make cents (sense), it makes dollars.

Lots of them!
🤣

 

[jz0309]

The standard iPhone 15 had the iPhone 14 Pro's processor, so it's not unheard of.



Why would Obama do this to us?

so that was a "downgrade" from the iPhone 14??

 

[bluecoast]

The regular 17 is so good, if all Apple did was to bump the chip and camera slightly, that would be fine.

If they want to shave off money, then lose the Camera Control, this decade's Force Touch.

I'd rather lose the camera control as is and just have a simple 'shutter' button.

If they deliberately decide to compromise the 18 to force people up to higher tiers, I'll probably just get an Apple refurbished 17 next year, as it's so good (except for that Camera Control...)

 

[klasma]

This still sounds like a very un-Apple move. The way they've usually handled improved specs for devices is to wait longer than their cutting-edge competitors to add a new feature or spec, but once it's added, it'll never be taken away/downgraded in future iterations of the device.

It may have to do with the rise in RAM and storage prices, and maybe of other parts as well. Above a certain threshold, they only have the choice between raising the price or cutting down on specs, and they are choosing the latter.

 

[joshwithachance]

Apple won't make the 18 worse than the 17. It logistically doesn't make any sense, because that's what the e-series is.

 

[JPack]

Why the doubt? Does money and profit grow on trees?

When was the last time DRAM and NAND prices shot up by 400-500%?

Keep in mind the base iPhone hasn’t had a price increase since iPhone 12 in 2020. Something has to give. Apple already tried the n-1 chip route with iPhone 14 and 15. People hated it. Now, they’re doing a 6 month delay with iPhone 18 to reduce chip costs and let Pro users absorb it first. There’s no way to magically absorb $50-$100 in materials costs given the DRAM/NAND price jumps.

 

[klasma]

In this instance, the word downgrade may only be fully understood once the device is actually released. I realise this is common sense, but articles like this are just going to make me complain that the product is suddenly garbage.

It’s helpful for people who were pondering upgrading to the 17 or waiting for the 18.

 

[Markwebbvt]

If you don't have it, buy the iPhone 17 base model now: it'll be the last great one!

 

[Populus]

Again, what? The rumor is that Apple will "downgrade" the 18 but not "downgrade" the (presumably) forthcoming 18e, such that the product lines will effectively merge?

No, they won’t merge. The 18e will still have one less GPU, from 5 to just 4. The iPhone 18 may have the same binned chip, yes, but the form factor will still be different: slightly taller with the Dynamic Island for the iPhone 18, and the older iPhone 14 body for the 18e, with sharper edges and a notch.

They aren’t merging the lines, but they are cutting costs on the iPhone 18 to keep or widen their profits on the most successful model. Because they are using old and recycled parts on the 18e, they don’t need to shave corners as bad as with the regular 18. My guess is that they are eating some of the increased costs this 2026, so they plan to regain those margins in 2027 with things like this.

With how the prices are going to rise in the future because of the war etc, there’s never been a better moment to buy technology than now. But I’m happy with my iPhone SE 3 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[klasma]

Tim. He's the one currently driving

Tim reportedly doesn’t make product decisions:

"Ternus will make decisions" when it comes to product development, said one person who has worked closely with both executives. "If you go to Tim with 'A' or 'B,' he won't pick. He'll ask a series of questions instead if he has concerns."

Ternus, on the other hand, will choose, said the person, who asked not to be identified in order to speak candidly. "It could be right or wrong, but at least it's a decision."

 

[conmee]

If Apple does this, it won’t be for cost savings. It will be due to the fact that the 17 was such a great value and probably ate into 17 Pro and Air sales. Instead of doubling-down and making the 18 an even better value at the expense of higher margin phones (especially when they likely will be holding back any really exciting upgrades for the iPhone XX in 2027), the only way to make the Pro and Air models look worthwhile is to dial back the value of the 18.

 

[jarman92]

I'll say what I said in the last thread on this. I strongly suspect:

iPhone Air gains another camera and speaker; becomes the "default" iPhone in the fall, but keeps the Air name.
iPhone 18 is really just the 18e, but called the 18. Comes out in the spring.

This allows apple to raise the price of the "default" phone (without "technically" raising prices), allows the more attractive, better in hand model to be the "default" option, and makes all these rumors about the 18 getting "worse" make sense.

Interesting...that actually does synthesize a lot of the rumors 🤔

 

[klasma]

No more screen lottery threads? They all suck equally.

Not quite. Maybe the iPhone 18 will have jelly scrolling.

 

[JPack]

If Apple does this, it won’t be for cost savings. It will be due to the fact that the 17 was such a great value and probably ate into 17 Pro and Air sales. Instead of doubling-down and making the 18 an even better value at the expense of higher margin phones (especially when they likely will be holding back any really exciting upgrades for the iPhone XX in 2027), the only way to make the Pro and Air models look worthwhile is to dial back the value of the 18.

The fact that iPhone 18 comes 6 months later already waters down the demand. Apple doesn’t need to cut specs except due to cost pressure, which is the case here.

 

[Populus]

If they want to shave off money, then lose the Camera Control, this decade's Force Touch.

The thing is… I read a rumor some time ago saying that a downgrade for Camera Control was already among the plans. The idea was to simplify it, I guess removing the touch gestures.